Hey New Jersey…Sometimes We Don’t Help Ourselves [Jersey’s Point of Lou]

I have recently written about how we here in New Jersey get an undeserved reputation for rudeness from out- of- staters, comedians and TV shows. I spoke about how they just don't get us and don't know us. Then it dawned on me. The only exposure many of them have to us does make us seem extremely rude. They've seen us drive.

Let's start by admitting that the person who gets in the car each day is a generous, caring, and friendly individual. Let's also admit that's not always the same person that does the driving once the seat belt is strapped on. Some people call it New Jersey attitude. Some people call it rude.

We all know there's rudeness around us. That's the easy part to admit. But are we part of the rudeness? Let me give you an example. If you were pushing your shopping cart down an aisle at the supermarket and somebody swung their cart in front of you, would you get right behind them, throw your hands up in the air and yell,"Beeeeeeeeep!!!' and follow them through three aisles until they stop just so you could give them a dirty look and gun it to get in front of them? If you said yes, I think I saw you on the Parkway yesterday!

More likely, you'd roll your eyes and not give it a second thought. And that person might even turn around after realizing what they did and....wait for it....apologize! So why can't we use our generally pleasant personalities we have everywhere else when we're on the road?

I really think it's in our DNA. It's our lane, our road, our speed and our right. We not only pat ourselves on the back for our own great driving, but we've annointed ourselves as certified critics of everyone else's driving. Don't you love us?

I've also noticed this is a highway thing. When we drive locally, we're prety nice. We let people in, wave thanks and play nice. But when we get on the Parkway, Turnpike or 195 watch out!

So, New Jersey drivers, maybe we can be a little more patient on the big roads and start to turn that reputation around. I'm sure we will...as soon as everybody else does!!

[Jersey's Point of Lou is a weekly column featuring the opinions of 94.3 The Point's Lou Russo sounding off about everything New Jersey. Have a topic you'd like to see Lou talk about? Leave a comment below]